For decades, certain institutions (such as the United Nations) have conducted business in multiple languages. When (physical) meetings are convened, delegates typically speak in their native languages. Interpreters are present to translate whatever is said into the languages of the other delegates.
To make the meeting as dynamic, interactive, and productive as possible, the interpretation is done “simultaneously.” This means that specially-trained individuals listen to a delegate speak in a first language and simultaneously (with a delay of typically only several seconds) translates and speaks in a second language, the translation of what is said by the delegate.
Delegates in such a meeting are equipped with microphones and headphones. The interpreters are typically isolated in soundproof booths and wear headsets. The venue is specially wired and controls are provided to delegates, interpreters, and moderators that allow for selection of audio inputs and outputs and control of audio mixing electronics.
Increasingly, organizations (including companies but also governments, non-profits, various regulatory, rule-making and standards bodies) convene their “meetings” using conference call technology as a way to avoid the time and expense of travel. Delegates or members of the conference can participate from their home locations over a telephone or internet connection.
There is a desire to conduct multi-lingual meetings via conference call, either replacing or extending the “in-person” meeting with a “virtual” meeting that includes participants connected from remote locations.
The traditional conference call lets all participants hear each other, as in a “party line” telephone call. However, there are no specific provisions for conducting such a call in multiple languages.
To date, if there are conference call participants speaking different languages, this is accommodated using “consecutive” interpretation. In this mode of operation, an interpreter is included as an additional participant in the conference. When, for example, a delegate speaks in Spanish, the delegate pauses after one or two sentences, and the interpreter repeats what is said by the delegate in translated form (e.g. English). The delegate then resumes speaking and the process iterates. When a delegate speaks in English, the interpreter waits for the delegate to pause, and then repeats what was said in Spanish, for example. Accordingly, all parties to the conference call are able to hear all of the Spanish and English utterances. This approach is very slow and tedious, and makes the dialogue much less dynamic. The current conference call translation solution becomes completely unwieldy when multiple languages are involved.
It is also important to note that extraneous audio inputs can be quite disruptive. This is true in conventional conference calls, but is even more critical here. Simultaneous interpretation requires tremendous concentration and interpretation can become impossible if the audio input to the interpreter is compromised by speech (or noise) from another delegate.
As meetings of all kinds become more internationally inclusive, the number of languages involved grows, and insisting on a common language for all interpreters may be impractical. It may be necessary to interpret from, for example, English to Mandarin and then Mandarin to Cantonese, and simultaneously English to German to Dutch.
It would be desirable to develop a conference call capability that allows for simultaneous interpretation in two or more languages, without burdening delegates or interpreters with additional language constraints or duties or connection requirements in order to manage the flow of audio.